This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 101 63 178.2, filed Dec. 21, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a device on a machine for spinning preparation, for example a carding machine, for removing foreign particles such as trash and the like. The device is provided with a knife blade that is arranged with adjustable spacing and pointing counter to the rotational direction of a roll, for example the main carding cylinder, and is provided with a suctioning chamber associated with the knife blade. The knife blade and the suctioning chamber are attached to a holding element and jointly form a structural component. A distance from the knife blade to the cylinder can be adjusted with at least one adjustment element.
A device of this type is shown in German Unexamined Published Patent Application 30 34 036 and is provided with a housing that forms a component of a profile body. The profile body is attached to the carding machine frame and extends over the complete width of the carding machine. A circular-cylindrical hollow space inside the housing functions as a suctioning chamber and is connected to a vacuum source. The knife blade is also attached to the profile body, so that the device for removing foreign particles forms a single structural component that can be replaced. The distance between this component and the main carding cylinder can be adjusted with screws. One considerable disadvantage of this device is that the adjustment screws, as seen in the rotational direction of the cylinder, are arranged a distance from the separation edge of the knife blade. As a result, a lever arm is formed between the locally fixed screws and the exposed separation edge. This lever arm makes it extremely difficult to securely reproduce the spacing between the separation edge and the cylinder following a dismantling and re-assembly. Involved reworking and aligning operations are consequently required since the adjustment occurs at a distance from the separation edge and the cylinder. In addition, the presence of loose fastening parts during the dismantling is bothersome.
It is an object of the invention to create a device of the aforementioned type that avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages. Following a dismantling and reassembly, for example, the device is designed to securely and easily maintain the spacing existing prior to the dismantling between the separation edge and the cylinder.
Embodiments of the invention provide a device for a spinning preparation machine for removing foreign particles, the machine having a rotating cylinder with ends. The device has a knife blade having a separation edge, the knife blade being arranged at an adjustable distance to and angled counter to a rotational direction of the cylinder; a suctioning chamber associated with the knife blade; a holding element to which the knife blade and the suctioning chamber are attached; and at least one adjusting element. The holding element, the knife blade and the suctioning chamber form a single adjustable unit. A position of the single adjustable unit relative to the cylinder is adjustable by adjusting the at least one adjusting element. The at least one adjusting element is located outside one of the ends of the cylinder in a longitudinal direction of the cylinder and in a region of the separation edge on the knife blade.
Because the adjustment element provided on each side of the cylinder is arranged in the region of the knife blade separation edge, the position of the separation knife relative to the cylinder does not change following dismantling and re-assembly. The adjustment occurs at a short distance to the longitudinal axis of the adjustment screw. As a result, it is possible to securely reproduce the spacing between a holding element for the knife blade and the suctioning hood. It is furthermore advantageous that this adjustment can be reproduced even if the holding element side facing the cylinder has uneven spots or is not perfectly aligned.